July 19 2007, 12:59

Field tomato harvest 2007 will be record low in three recent years in Ukraine

The analysts of CIS produce business periodical, "Agrooglyad: Vegetables and Fruits"

, estimate that field tomato harvest is likely to dramatically decrease in Ukraine in 2007. According to the preliminary evaluations, tomato production will reduce one quarter because of 14% yield decline and 11% reduction of tomato cultivation areas. The reduction of tomato acreage is predetermined this season by low cost efficiency and even losses caused by tomato production past year. The prices for tomatoes were record low on the market of Ukraine in 2006. The yield declines because of the plants depressed by hot temperature, drought on non-irrigated areas, and high percentage of plants injured by diseases and pests as a consequence of mild winter.

At the same time the analysts think that the level of the demand for field tomato may approximately correspond this year to the level of the production decrease. Almost all canneries of Ukraine plan to significantly reduce tomato purchases for holocarpous canning in 2007 as a result of great stocks of ready products accumulated during the previous year. The other reason for the demand to decline is cheap tomato paste of Chinese origin, which presses the market. We should also mention that the declining demand on freshmarket is caused by the decreasing volumes of home-made canned products, and also by the supermarkets which are getting to trade by solely greenhouse tomatoes.